Friday Night Lights, episode 20, “Mud Bowl”

Excuse us for a moment . . . WOOOOO HOOOOO! The Panthers are going to State!!!!

Ok, with that out of our systems, it’s time to catch up with our ever-deepening cast of characters.

Having grown up near Austin’s Reagan High School — which stands in for a lot of the exterior shots of Dillon High — we can assure you that there are no toxic trains within five miles of the school or stadium. But hey, just like the silly business about playing the state semifinals in a pasture (no coach in his right mind would do that, not even Smithson Valley’s Larry Hill, who we have decided is the model for Coach Taylor), we can overlook some over-dramatization because we love the people and the stories on this show. We’re anticipating a depression in two weeks when the season ends.

Speaking of Coach Taylor, his response could not have been better when he sees that giant ad for Sleazy Car Dealer on the side of the stadium. As we used to say, he looked like he “had just bit a lemon.” No wonder he skips out on playing at a really, really shiny new stadium, and no wonder he’s thinking hard about that college job (after all, there’s no commercialization in college sports, right?).

Saracen’s best friend Landry has been one of our favorite characters all season, and it was good to see him more this week. He had a great line when he told Tyra (with whom he is completely smitten) that he started a math club at school, “but no one showed up to the meetings.” And then he was great in the final scenes, after she had been attacked in the parking lot. Admit it, you knew this guy in high school, if you weren’t actually him.

Cheerleader Girlfriend, for all her faults, may have snapped Quarterback Street out of his funk (a quick splash of water never hurts). It even got him to finally speak out about the lawsuit; the scene at the settlement conference was a little fuzzy, but apparently he was able to end the whole thing. Now if we can just get him graduated and through four years of college, he can get a job at Dillon High, teaching PE and coaching JV soccer and the quarterbacks.

Dennis the Menace seems to be thrilled at the thought of Mopey Buddy having sleepovers at his house; next thing you know, he’ll be talking about “Uncle Tim Riggins of the Dillon Panthers” all the time.

As silly as playing the state semifinals in a pasture was, the football scenes turned out to be pretty dramatic, including yet another winning score on the last play of the game. If you were scratching your head about the true identity of the Brant Vikings, there’s a reason: They were wearing Reagan Raiders columbia blue uniforms (we recognized the distinctive R on the sleeves), with “Vikings” stripped in over “Raiders” on the front.

And in a bit more dramatic license, the Panthers’ opponents in the state finals in Texas Stadium will be West Cambia, current home of spurned quarterback VooDoo Tatum. Somebody else is headed for double-secret probation, we suspect.

Highlight

Saracen takes so much grief from people, it’s fun to hear him dish it out occasionally, as when he gets on the love-struck Landry about his “study date” with Tyra:

Smash and Preacher’s Daughter have their heart-to-heart talk in front of Fran’s Hamburgers on South Congress in Austin. If you squint and are quick on the button, you can see a satellite truck from News 8 Austin at the Mud Bowl, parked next to the makeshift press box. And that fancy facility where Brant’s coach wanted to relocate the game is the brand-new Round Rock ISD Stadium, on West Parmer Lane.